Decorating with quilts presents many possibilities.  The quilts may be old or new, pieces salvaged and framed, quilts repaired and reconstructed and many other quilted items that add interest and color to the room’s decor.
An interesting article at STLtoday.com’s lifestyle section, Family Heirlooms Make This House a Home, by Susan Fadem with photos by Laurie Skrivan, describes decorating with old quilts. 
 There’s a framed yo-yo quilt, made from flour sacks, by a great-grandmother.  This quilt originally was cut into three pieces so that each child could have a piece.  Then it was cut into thirds again before being framed.
Another inherited quilt is …read more

Chloe Findlay-Harder, over at Tangled Thread, is creating with yo-yo’s again, one of those favorite little decorative pieces that quilters and fabric artists enjoy.  She needs your help in determining whether her yo-yo Christmas wreath is too busy.
She has a poll where you can vote and help her decide what to do?
What fun…to help someone else with their design challenges!

Yo-yo’s, those shirred little circles, have become favorites in quilts, fabric art, and home decorating.  Chloe, at Tangled Thread, has addressed this topic again, Fall Decorating With Yo-Yo’s.
She’s got some great ideas for fall decorating and links to some previous posts with holiday yo-yo themes.  It’s also not too early to start creating your Christmas gifts and decorations.

Chloe, at Tangled Thread, has found a unique yo-yo maker.  She says that Clover is creating various shaped templates for making yo-yo’s and has them available for quilters.  These include flowers and hearts.
Yo-yo’s are those fascinating shirred circles, which quilters now are creating in a variety of shapes.    You can use yo-yo’s for quilts, tablecloths, clothing, Christmas chains, toys, hangings, and to decorate fabric art.

Heart-shaped yo-yo’s?  What a wonderful idea! They’re mentioned and pictured both on Cyndi’s Layers Upon Layers and Chloe’s Tangled Thread.  (More yo-yo’s at Tangled Thread.)
Yo-yo’s always seem so popular whenever I mention them or I find them on other quilting and crafting sites.  These little shirred circles can be used for so many projects and have been around for ages. 
Noreen Crone-Findlay,  at Hankering for Yarn, always has some yo-yo ideas to share with us, too.  Here she shows us how to make a yo-yo circle.
 I wonder how someone first discovered they could make yo-yo’s.  Was it by accident or done deliberately?

Noreen at Hankering for Yarn, with her fascination for yo-yo’s, has designed and made another vest using yo-yo decoration.  She also posts attractive photos of much of her work, including this one.
Perhaps Noreen’s creativeness will give you inspiration for making yo-yo projects.  Yo-yo’s are very versatile and can be used for decorative effect or making complete items, such as bed coverings and tablecloths. 
(I shall go more into detail about making and using yo-yo’s in future posts.  I’ve written about them for magazines and in my newspaper columns in the past.)

What a fascinating idea….creating a yo-yo “memory” vest, consisting of these little shirred circles from fabrics given by friends and family.  Noreen at Hankering for Yarn shares her love of yo-yo’s, dating back to her grandmother’s friend, and shows us pictures of the “memory” vest.
Yo-yo’s have a place in my life, too.  I made exquisite bits of fabric art with my daughter.  Together we created yo-yo Christmas tree decorations one year.  Currently I have a bag of yo-yo’s in my closet and must find a project for them.  Noreen has inspired me!

Creating quilts to cheer others becomes an enjoyable and rewarding project.  Recently I was asked to add decoration to three navy blue fabric squares.  The complete quilt, with many quilters doing one or several squares, will be given to an ill child and hopefully cheer him.
“Decorate it any way you want,” I was instructed.  So I wondered what I could do fairly quickly.  The coordinator of the project needed the blocks returned within a week, if possible.
I planned to use some yo-yo rosettes I had on hand.  But would a boy want flowers?  Next I cut pictures of dogs and …read more